It was good to set the record straight and kick out the jams Interview to Nick Marsh by Rodrigo Debernardis
Nick Marsh is the leader of the legendary alternative rock band Flesh For Lulu, who had their apogee at the end of the 80s with records such “Long Live The New Flesh” or “Plastic Fantastic”. After a period of inactivity, today the band has been re-formed and is planning to record new material and touring. Despite he’s having a complicated health moment, Nick kindly has agreed for an interview with The 13th. How was the process of this Flesh For Lulu comeback? It was a personal need or something that came out naturally between 12 .THE 13Th
you and the members? What happened was a series of random factors, forces leading to a kind of ‘happy accident’; I was doing a bunch of solo shows in small London clubs, featuring mostly material from ‘A Universe Between Us’, my solo record. It’s all very down-beat, intimate, which is cool but people kept asking for Flesh for Lulu songs and Bish ( drums ) suggested he join me at the end of one set which he did and we tore the roof off with just guitar and drums. That night I was so excited by the energy that I straight away started making
calls and putting a band together. It’s like I’d forgotten all about that side of what makes me tick, creatively, left in a cave somewhere... Why Rocco Barker didn’t took part of the project? Well, Rocco has a vintage eye-wear shop in Portobello Road that takes up a lot of his time and I guess that sort of life suits some people better when they reach a certain age … ha ha … Our new guitarist, Will Crewdson (Rachel Stamp, Adam and the Ants, Sigue Sigue Sputnik) has taken our whole sound to a new level of sonic intensity and attack, new blood flows hot and red! Do you think that this “reloaded” version of the band capture the spirit and the sound of FFL? Yes, I love the way that record/ experiment worked out. So many times I’d had to listen to the original recordings, not all, but many which suffered from 80’s production values and I felt, never did justice to the raw power of a FFL live show. It always sounded so polished on record, so, yeah it was good to set the record straight and kick out the jams. Are you working on a forthcoming album? Tour? Before I got ill, we had started to record some new songs for a E.P with songs we had been playing live whilst touring with The
Goo Goo Dolls last November. Then in April I was diagnosed with cancer in my mouth and neck and went for surgery 1st May. Since then I’ve been undergoing a series of chemo/ radiotherapy treatments which have left me very un-well up till now, so plans for touring have had to be postponed until Oct/Nov. I cant wait to finish the new songs and put them out there. Many people would be glad to have you playing around here, any chance to come to South America? We would LOVE to come and play in South America. So many times back in the day we nearly went, but there was always some stupid reason why we couldn’t, so now I am really exited as I know we can tour there loads! On the late 80s there was a lot of bands with a great sound to offer (Flesh For Lulu, The Mission, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Psychedelic Furs...and many others) that never could make the big jump. Maybe it’s difficult to explain, but did you ever wonder why this happened? Well, I mean as long as you leave some good records out there, that’s better than selling millions of shitty ones, apart from all the money of course. You keep on doing it regardless of whether you’re ever likely to make your’ big jump’, because it’s righteous rock’n’roll and it has to be played. THE 13TH. 13
What Is your vision of the actual rock scene? In general, don’t you find that today on the music business the preponderant is the package than the content? The way I see the whole vista at the moment is a bit kinda warped ,as I’m sure you can imagine, by issues surrounding my health and the way I view the world is that it’s all this big cycle we’re caught up in with popular culture being dictated by a bunch of greedy soulless parasites and the legions of zombies, blindly following the trail of mindless, dead waste, just like when I was a kid and always will probably. We need that in a way to revolt against; the mundane, dull monotonous sound of mass tv/radio drones churning out the same old shit, as long as its there, you know you haven’t been sucked into the void and become one of the masses Which bands would you highlight these days? Do you mean today or everyday? It’s always a journey to hear something new, or something Old new. These days I’m much more open to new things, hungry ears searching You have an active participation on the social network. What do you think about the interaction between the artists and the web? Dou you think it’s a useful tool? Well, from my perspective, it’s a way of putting my music on display hopefully so that others find out about through this medium. The music industry has changed so much during my career and I STILL don’t have a clue, wheres my money?! The webs been useful for hooking up with some cool people who give a shit and are gonna try to help me make this happen and for others to discover, you know,
virtual word of mouth. It’s all something that just arrived in the middle of me trying to figure out the magic chord. You made a Solo album, something that all musician dream of (A Universe Between Us, great songs, a very intimate piece of art) Were you happy with the result? Was enough “liberating” for you? ‘Universe’ is my quest for the magic chord I suppose. That record took me as far as I could get from the whole mindset of being in a group and writing from the riff upwards. I wanted to create sound scapes for the lyrics to inhabit, rather than lyrical environments for musicians to express themselves within. I could never be a solo artist exclusively as I need that band craziness, that whole us against the man/bullshit/ lies thing (and a good party) Somehow, my partner Katharine Blake ( Mediaeval Beabes, Miranda Sex Garden ) who produced ‘Universe’ and i have managed to do a record together of our co-fronted band ‘From the Deep’, I am also really looking forward to releasing and promoting that early 2015 when hopefully I’ll be fully recovered from this unexpected twist in the story. We heard you have now material for a new one. What can you tell us about it? This next solo record goes even further along some cinematic, other-worldly path into a world of floods, exotic jungles and the twisted psyche. The less I care about the commercial outcome, the more creatively abandoned and free I’ve become, it’s the same with FFL; who cares. Do it now! Thank you Nick for take the time to answer this interview for us